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Morticia

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We have had a run this season of guests who usually stay somewhere else. They have, for the most part, been happy we had room for them. They have, for the most part, liked their stay, the room, the breakfast, possibly even us.
However, it has been hard to have them in the house. They are constantly comparing here with there. They *love* the other innkeepers. This latest couple has stayed at the other place for 30 years. That's a lot to 'compete' with.
OTOH, we are really not trying to compete. We offer an almost completely different experience. And when each of them leaves I express my hope the other place will be open for them again next year. Because they are not coming back here. I mean, they will if the other place closes permanently, but they don't WANT to come back here, they want the other place.
I hope we have that impact on our repeat guests!
 
I think we do. The man who left yesterday said this was his first experience at a B & B. He said the B & Bs in the future have a high bar to come up to. And I am NOT fancy, do not do beautiful gourmet breakfasts, I am just me.
Most innkeepers do not realize they are not in competition with another innkeeper. When I first opened, a reporter doing a story on the new B & B asked me who were my competitors. I told her, "I have no competition. No one else has ME." IF I ever getoff my stumps ans sell the Gillum House, ir will be a different Gillum House because it will then be the personality, decor, and the breakfasts of the new innkeeper.
I DID have a long-time guest of another B & B once when they were unable to host her. My grandsons were visiting and she had returned early that day. I invited her to join us for supper. She told me when she checked out, that she thought only the other B & B was that way and now, when she traveled for her job, she would be staying in B & Bs even if she had to pay the difference in the per diem.
 
Morticia said:
I hope we have that impact on our repeat guests!
I'm sure you do, expect most of us like familiar people and places, creatures of habit, when we like something we resist change. As a visitor to our area we had our favorite places, multiple as our own needs changed over the years that we visited.
 
When we bought, there were four inns on our road. Today it’s just us. We’ve had a lot to live up to absorbing the regulars of the other three. But we are us. Some love it, some don’t.
 
Mort's post reminded me of the story, legendary in journalism circles, of the late great editor of the New York Times, A.M. Rosenthal.
In the 1960s, the New York Herald Tribune went out of business, despite being well-regarded in newspaper circles.
One evening a few years later, Rosenthal was having dinner with friends, and the person in the booth behind him just couldn't stop gushing about the late, great Herald-Tribune. "Such a great newspaper!" he said. "The writers were so intelligent, and their columns were amazing!" "Every Herald-Tribune article was just a joy to read!"
After a while, Rosenthal had heard enough, spun himself around in the booth and handed the man a quarter. "That newspaper sounds amazing! Could you run outside and get me one?"

The man blankly looked at him and said, "No. No, it's not in business any more."
Rosenthal just stared at him, then snarled, "Well then, it must not have been that great an f-ing paper."
 
When we bought, there were four inns on our road. Today it’s just us. We’ve had a lot to live up to absorbing the regulars of the other three. But we are us. Some love it, some don’t..
TheBeachHouse said:
When we bought, there were four inns on our road. Today it’s just us. We’ve had a lot to live up to absorbing the regulars of the other three. But we are us. Some love it, some don’t.
We've absorbed the guests of other closed B&B's and it's been bittersweet. We know when we took over here a lot of guests went elsewhere as we were not as accommodating of the guests' quirks and what they expected us to do. (And a reason the PO's left was these requests got so out of hand, but they had let them go on too long to stop them.)
It's trying to cater to the guests of places that are 'technically' still open, just not taking guests at the moment. So, rather than lamenting and moving on, these guests are wishing the other place was open this year. And hoping it will be open next year.
 
We absorbed a family reunion that moved to us because the other inn's innkeeper passed away suddenly. They talk about her fondly, but they enjoy staying with us as well. We do provide a little more as she ran her inn all by herself. They've been with us three years now and they still speak of their former innkeeper sometimes.
Doesn't bother me at all. I'm like you, Morticia, I hope our repeat guests will have fond memories of us as well.
 
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